PR WATCH

Fair.org: CNN'S RELIABLY NARROW SOURCES
The media watchdog FAIR/Extra! has studied the guestlist of CNN's
Reliable Sources to see how many critical voices were heard on the
program that claims to "turn a critical lens on the media."
Covering one year of weekly programs, the FAIR study found that
Reliable Sources strongly favored mainstream media insiders and
right-leaning pundits. In addition, female critics were
significantly underrepresented, and ethnic minority voices were
almost non-existent.
SOURCE: FAIR, March/April 2003

Guardian: BBC BIASED IN WAR COVERAGE
"The BBC was attacked by both sides over the Iraq war. It was the
only news organisation apart from the Sun that was targeted by
anti-war demonstrators, and senior managers apologised for the use
of biased terms such as 'liberate' in their coverage. Meanwhile,
ministers publicly criticised the BBC's alleged bias towards
Baghdad," David Miller reports for the Guardian. "The BBC argued
that criticism from all sides showed it must be getting something
right. The empirical evidence, however, suggests a pro-war
orientation. ... The BBC thus turned a blind eye to divisions in
the [UK]. A study of coverage in five countries for the Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung shows that the BBC featured the lowest level of
dissent of all. Its 2% total was even lower than the 7% found on
the US channel ABC."
SOURCE: The Guardian, April 22, 2003